Identifying content in an incoming message on a social network

ABSTRACT

Identifying content in an incoming message on a social network includes categorizing a sender-recipient relationship between a sender and a recipient of an incoming message in an activity stream in a display.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present specification is a continuation, and claims the priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 120, of previous U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/959,622, entitled “Identifying Content in an Incoming Message on aSocial Network,” filed Aug. 5, 2013, which is a continuation and claimsthe priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of previous U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/955,293, entitled “Identifying Content in an IncomingMessage on a Social Network,” filed Jul. 31, 2013, each application isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to identifying content in an incomingmessage on a social network, and more specifically, to identifyingcontent in an incoming message for an activity stream on a socialnetwork.

A social network is a web based application to enable a user toestablish connections with other users such as friends, family, andcolleagues in an online environment. Once a user is connected to otherusers, the users may share information with each other on the socialnetwork by uploading pictures, updating personal information, commentingon other users' information, and other activities. A social network usesan activity stream to display the information shared between the users.An activity stream allows a user to be aware of collaborative actions byother users. Thus, a user's activity stream displays shared informationfrom other users.

SUMMARY

A method for identifying content in an incoming message on a socialnetwork includes categorizing a sender-recipient relationship between asender and a recipient of an incoming message in an activity stream in adisplay.

A method for identifying content in an incoming message on a socialnetwork includes categorizing a sender-recipient relationship between asender and a recipient of an incoming message in an activity stream in adisplay, categorizing a content of the incoming message, determining adegree of a sender attitude of the incoming message, and generating arecommendation based on the incoming message.

A method for identifying content in an incoming message on a socialnetwork includes categorizing a sender-recipient relationship between asender and a recipient of an incoming message in an activity stream in adisplay, categorizing a content of the incoming message, and generatinga recommendation based on the incoming message.

A computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium,the computer readable storage medium having computer readable programcode embodied therewith. The computer readable program code havingcomputer readable program code to categorize a sender-recipientrelationship between a sender and a recipient of an incoming message inan activity stream in a display.

A system for identifying content in an incoming message on a socialnetwork includes a relationship categorization engine to categorize asender-recipient relationship between a sender and a recipient of anincoming message in an activity stream in a display, a contentcategorization engine to categorize a content of the incoming message, adetermination engine to determine a degree of a sender attitude towardsthe incoming message, and a generation engine to generate a recipientrecommendation based on the incoming message.

A system for identifying content in an incoming message on a socialnetwork includes a relationship categorization engine to categorize asender-recipient relationship between a sender and a recipient of anincoming message in an activity stream in a display, a contentcategorization engine to categorize a content of the incoming message,and a generation engine to generate a recommendation based on theincoming message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principlesdescribed herein and are a part of the specification. The examples donot limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of a system for identifying content inan incoming message on a social network, according to one example ofprinciples described herein.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example for identifying content in an incomingmessage on a social network, according to one example of principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of a method for identifying contentin an incoming message on a social network, according to one example ofprinciples described herein.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example of a method for identifying contentin an incoming message on a social network, according to one example ofprinciples described herein.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of an identification system, accordingto principles described herein.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example of an identification system, accordingto principles described herein.

Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar,but not necessarily identical, elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present specification describes a method and system for identifyingcontent in an incoming message on a social network such that arecommendation based on the incoming message is generated to allow therecipient to pursue counter measures to counteract the impact of theincoming message.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentspecification may be embodied as a system, method, or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present specification may take theform of hardware or a combination of hardware and software. Furthermore,aspects of the present specification my take the form of a computerprogram product embodied in a number of computer readable mediums havingcomputer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. Acomputer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable mediums would include the following: an electricalconnection having a number of wires, a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROP or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, acomputer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain, or store a program for use by or in connection with anyinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device such as, for example,a processor.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wire line, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentspecification may be written in an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, or C++, among others. However, the computerprogram code for carrying out operations of the present systems andmethods may also be written in procedural programming languages, suchas, for example, the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may bemade to an external computer (for example, thought the internet using aninternet service provider).

Flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus, andcomputer program products are disclosed. Each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor or other programmable data processingapparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, whichexecute via a processor of the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, implement the functions/acts specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

In one example, these computer program instructions may be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the functions/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram blocks or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperations to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implement process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/orblock diagram blocks or blocks.

Although a traditional social network enables a recipient to establishconnections with others such as friends, family, and colleagues in anonline environment, each connection with others are of equal importance.As a result, information shared in the activity stream on the socialnetwork between users is displayed in the order the information isuploaded to the social network. Further, a recipient has few options tofilter information shared on the activity stream. As a result, therecipient may not be aware of collaborative actions or importantinformation shared on the activity stream. Further, if the recipient isnot aware of collaborative actions or important information shared onthe activity stream, the recipient may not pursue counter measures tocounteract the content of the incoming message. By merely listing allthe messages in the activity stream based on a chronological order, themessages of most interest to the user may get buried and overlooked.

The principles described herein include a method and a system foridentifying content in an incoming message on a social network. Such amethod and system includes categorizing a sender-recipient relationshipof an incoming message in an activity stream in a display. Such a methodallows a recipient to categorize a number of relationships with senders.As a result, the recipient may filter information shared in the activitystream on the social network based on the sender-recipient relationship.This allows the recipient to be aware of collaborative actions orimportant information shared on the activity stream.

The sender may be a sender who directly a message to the recipient. Forexample, the sender may send an email message addressed to therecipient. In other examples, the sender may indirectly send theincoming message to the recipient. For example, the sender may updatethe sender's social network profile, and the social networking profilemay send a message to the sender's network that informs the members ofthe sender's network about the update. In other examples, the sender canindirectly send incoming messages to the recipient when the sender makesan announcement and another entity sends the announcement to therecipient. For example, the sender may make a press release, post a blogentry, make an announcement on a social networking platform, and inresponse, another entity sends an incoming message to the recipient. Inyet other examples, the recipient and the sender may be part of a commonorganization, such as a society dedicated to the promotion of theirprofession. In such an example, the sender can indirectly send therecipient an incoming message by doing something noteworthy that theprofessional organization mentions in an electronic message to the othermembers of the professional organization. In a further example, thesender can indirectly send the recipient a message by doing somethingnoteworthy in the community, and a news feed sends the recipient anincoming message that contains content about the sender.

Further, the method can include generating a recommendation based on theincoming message. As will be described below, a recommendation allows arecipient to pursue counter measures to counteract the impact of theincoming message. The recommendation will be described in more detailbelow.

The present specification also describes a computer program product foridentifying content in an incoming message on a social network thatincludes computer-readable instructions on a tangible medium, that, whenexecuted by a processor, cause a list of incoming messages to bedisplayed in a recipient's activity stream.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present systems and methods. It will be apparent,however, to one skilled in the art that the present apparatus, systems,and methods may be practiced without these specific details. Referencein the specification to “an example” or similar language means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith that example is included as described, but may not be included inother examples.

Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of asystem for identifying content in an incoming message on a socialnetwork, according to one example of principles described herein. Aswill be described below, an identification system is in communicationwith a social network to identify content in an incoming message on asocial network. Further, the identification system generates arecommendation to allow a recipient to pursue counter measures tocounteract the content of the incoming message.

In one example, the system (100) includes a user device (102) with adisplay (104). In this example, a recipient uses the user device (102)to access a social network (106). Further, once a recipient is connectedto the social network (106), a recipient may establish connections withothers such as friends, family, and colleagues in an online environment.As mentioned above, the social network (106) uses an activity stream todisplay information shared between users. As a result, an activitystream allows a recipient to be aware of collaborative actions taken byothers. In this example, the display (104) displays an activity streamfrom the social network (106). More details about the activity streamwill be described below.

Further, the system (100) includes an identification system (108). Inone example, the identification system (108) is in communication with asocial network (106) to identify content in an incoming message on thesocial network (106). The identification system (108) categorizes asender-recipient relationship of an incoming message in an activitystream in a display. The identification system (108) then categorizes acontent of the incoming message and determines a degree of senderattitude towards the incoming message. Further, the identificationsystem (108) generates a recipient recommendation based on the incomingmessage. As a result, the identification system (108) generates arecommendation to allow the recipient to pursue counter measures tocounteract the impact of the incoming message. More information aboutthe identification system (108) will be described below.

While this example has been described with reference to theidentification system being located over the network, the identificationsystem may be located in any appropriate location according to theprinciples described herein. For example, the identification system maybe located in a user device. Further, in one example, an identificationsystem (108) is used to filter information displayed in the activitystream. For example, the identification system (108) can display justincoming messages in an activity stream that allows the recipient topursue counter measures to counteract the impact of the incomingmessage. In another example, the identification system (108) displaysall incoming messages in the activity stream.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example for identifying content in an incomingmessage on a social network, according to one example of principlesdescribed herein. As mentioned above, incoming messages are displayed inan activity stream in a display. In one example, an identificationsystem filters incoming messages in an activity stream to allow therecipient to pursue counter measures to counteract the impact of theincoming message. In another example, the identification system displaysall incoming messages in the activity stream.

Turning specifically to FIG. 2, a display (202) is used to display anactivity stream (204) from a social network web based application. Inone example, the activity stream (204) includes a number of incomingmessages to be displayed. In this example, the activity stream (204)includes incoming message A (206-1), incoming message B (208-1), andincoming message C (210-1). Although, in this example, the activitystream (204) includes three incoming messages, the activity stream (204)may include any appropriate number of incoming messages.

As mentioned above, an identification system categorizes asender-recipient relationship of an incoming message in an activitystream in a display. The identification system then categorizes acontent of the incoming message and determines a degree of the senderattitude towards the incoming message. Further, the identificationsystem generates a recommendation based on the incoming message. In oneexample, the recommendation is displayed in an activity stream (204).Further, when the recipient selects an incoming message using a cursor(212), additional details for the incoming message is displayed. Forexample, the recipient selects incoming message B (208-1) using a cursor(212). As a result, incoming message B details (208-2) are displayed. Inthis example, incoming message B details (208-2) may include an updatefrom detail (208-3). The update from detail (208-3) indicates who sentincoming message B (208-1). In this example the incoming message B(208-1) was sent from the sender.

Further, the incoming message B details (208-2) may include the contentof incoming message details (208-4). The content of incoming messagedetails (208-4) displays the content of the incoming message. In thisexample, the content of incoming message B details (208-4) is the senderstating “I sold software!”

Still further, the incoming message B details (208-2) may include acontent category details (208-5). The content category details (208-5)display the topic of the content of incoming message B details (208-4).In this example, the content category detail (208-5) is software sales.

In keeping with the given example, the incoming message B details(208-2) may include a sender-recipient relationship detail (208-6). Thesender-recipient relationship detail (208-6) displays the relationshipof the sender with the recipient. In this example, the sender-recipientrelationship detail (208-6) is negative because recipient and sender arecompetitors in software sales. Alternatively, if recipient and senderwere partners in software sales, the sender-recipient relationshipdetail (208-6) would be positive.

Further, the incoming message B details (208-2) may include a degree ofsender attitude and message impact detail (208-7) on the recipient. Thedegree of sender attitude and message impact detail (208-7) displayswhether the content of an incoming message is positive or negative.Further, depending on the sender-recipient relationship, the messageimpact may be positive or negative for the recipient. In this example,sender selling software is a positive degree of sender attitude for thesender. As mentioned above, the recipient and the sender are competitorsin software sales. As a result, the message impact for the recipient isnegative.

The incoming message B details (208-2) may include linked details(208-8). The linked details (208-8) display details of the content ofthe incoming message. For example, the linked details (208-8) mayinclude details about a sales transaction. In this example, the linkeddetails (208-8) display the name of the company that bought the softwarefrom the sender. As a result, the linked details state “Sender soldsoftware to company W.”

The incoming message B details (208-2) may include a recommendationdetail (208-9). The recommendation detail (208-9) displays arecommendation for the recipient to pursue to counteract the impact ofthe incoming message. In this example, the recipient recommendationstates, “Recipient sell software to company K.”

While the above examples include a recommendation for sales, arecommendation may include recommendations for any appropriate contentof an incoming message. For example, a recommendation for content of anincoming message may include a recommendation for trading stocks. Inanother example, a recommendation for content of an incoming message mayinclude a recommendation for buying products.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of a method (300) for identifyingcontent in an incoming message on a social network, according to oneexample of principles described herein. The method (300) includescategorizing (301) a sender-recipient relationship between a sender anda recipient of an incoming message in an activity stream in a display.

Turning specifically to FIG. 3, categorizing (301) a sender-recipientrelationship between a sender and a recipient of an incoming message inan activity stream in a display may include a recipient manuallyentering the sender-recipient relationship into a field provided by thesocial network. For example, the recipient can manually input thesender-recipient relationship that the recipient has with the sender ina field box associated with the sender. In this example, theidentification system (FIG. 1, 108) can present a list of potentialrelationship categories from which the recipient can select anappropriate category that describes the sender-recipient relationship.The list of categories may include categories such as businesscategories, education categories, employment categories, familycategories, friend categories, sports categories, other types ofcategories, or combinations thereof. In some examples, the recipient canselect categories to describe multiple sender-recipient relationshipsthat the recipient has with the sender. The sender-recipientrelationship may be a positive relationship or a negative relationship,in keeping with the given example, the recipient can categorize apositive relationship for business and education relationships with thesender. However, the recipient and sender are competitors in employment,such as software sales. As a result, the recipient can categorize anegative relationship for the sender's employment. Thus, multiplerelationships can be categorized between the recipient and the sender.

As mentioned above, an incoming message in an activity stream displaysthe sender-recipient relationship in a display. As mentioned above, anincoming message from the sender is displayed on the recipient'sactivity stream via a display. As mentioned above, based on the contentof the incoming message, the categorized sender-recipient relationshipis displayed on the recipient's activity stream in the display.

While the above examples include a recipient categorizing relationshipsingle sender-recipient relationship, the recipient may categorize thesender-recipient relationship with other senders as well. Further, alist of relationship categories may include any appropriate relationshipcategory to allow the recipient to characterize another sender-recipientrelationship with another sender. In some examples, the recipient has anoption to generate customized relationship categories that a bettersuited for the sender-recipient relationship that the standardrelationship categories initially provided.

While the above example includes a list of relationship categoriespresented to a recipient, any appropriate mechanism for categorizing thesender-recipient relationship may be used. For example, theidentification system (FIG. 1, 108) may use analytics such as data textmining to extract relevant information from a recipient to categorizethe sender-recipient relationship. In this example, the relevantinformation may be extracted from a recipient's post, a recipient'sprofile, a recipient's comments, a recipient's likes, other data sourcesassociated with the recipient, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart, of an example of a method (400) for identifyingcontent in an incoming message on a social network, according to oneexample of principles described herein. The method (400) includescategorizing (401) a sender-recipient relationship between a sender anda recipient of an incoming message in an activity stream in a display,categorizing (402) a content of the incoming message, determining (403)a degree of sender attitude of the incoming message, combining (404) thesender-recipient relationship and the degree of the sender attitude todetermine a message impact on a recipient, generating (405) arecommendation based on the incoming message, referencing (406) a sourceto assist the recipient in accomplishing the recommendation, anddisplaying (407) the recommendation in the display.

As mentioned above, the method includes categorizing (402) a content ofthe incoming message. In one example, categorizing the content of theincoming message includes using analytics, such as poll backendanalytics, data text mining, other analytics to deter mine the topic ofthe content of the incoming message, or combinations thereof. Forexample, if the recipient receives an incoming message from the senderthat states “I sold software,” analytics can be performed on theincoming message to determine the appropriate content category for themessage. In s example, the content of the incoming message may becategorized as software sales.

In another example, if the recipient receives an incoming message fromsender that states “I sold one of my favorite guitars to my best friend.He got a steal of a deal,” the analytics may categorize the incomingmessage's content as guitar sales.

While the above examples include categorizing the content of theincoming message with single categories, the content of the incomingmessage may be categorized into multiple categories. For example, if therecipient receives an incoming message from sender that states “Todaywas a great day. I sold software and I sold one of my favorite guitarsto my best friend,” the content of the incoming message may becategorized as both software sales and guitar sales.

The method further includes determining (403) a degree of senderattitude about the incoming message. In one example, the degree ofsender attitude may span an attitude continuum with various discretedegrees such as very negative, negative, somewhat negative, neutral,somewhat positive, positive, very positive, another degree, orcombinations thereof. In another example, the degree of sender attitudemay be either negative or positive. In keeping with the given example,the recipient receives an incoming message from the sender that states“I sold one of my favorite guitars to my best friend. He got a steal ofa deal.” In this example, the recipient and the sender are partners inguitar sales and have a positive sender-recipient relationship withrespect to guitar sales. Analytics is performed on the incoming messageto determine the degree of sender's attitude towards the incomingmessage. In example, sender selling a guitar to his best friendindicates the degree of sender attitude is positive.

In another example, the recipient receives an incoming message from thesender that states “I didn't sell any software today.” In this example,the recipient and the sender are competitors in software sales and havea negative sender-recipient relationship with respect to software sales.Analytics is performed on the incoming message to determine the degreeof the sender's attitude towards the incoming message. In this example,the sender not selling software indicates the degree of sender attitudeis negative.

While the above examples include a positive degree of sender attitude ora negative degree of sender attitude, a degree of sender attitude may beexpressed as a range of numbers. In this example, the range of numbersmay be from −10 to +10 where −10 represents a very negative degree ofsender attitude and +10 represents a very positive degree of senderattitude.

As mentioned above, the method includes combining (404) thesender-recipient relationship and the degree of the sender attitude todetermine a message impact on the recipient. As mentioned above, therecipient categorizes the sender-recipient relationship as a negativerelationship with respect to software sales. For example, the recipientcan receive an incoming message from the sender that states “I soldsoftware.” As mentioned above, the sender selling software is a positivedegree of attitude for the sender. Since recipient and sender arecompetitors in software, the message impact on the recipient isnegative. Alternatively, the recipient receives an incoming message fromthe sender that states “I didn't sell software today.” As mentionedabove, the sender not selling software is a negative degree of attitudefor sender. Since recipient and sender are competitors in softwaresales, the message impact on recipient is positive.

In another example, recipient categorizes the sender-recipientrelationship as a positive relationship with respect to guitar sales. Inkeeping with the given example, the recipient receives an incomingmessage from the sender that states “I sold one of my favorite guitarsto my best friend. He got a steal of a deal.” As mentioned above, thesender selling a guitar is a positive degree of attitude for the sender.Since the recipient and the sender are partners in guitars, the messageimpact on the recipient is positive.

The method further includes generating (405) a recommendation based onale incoming message. In keeping with the given example, arecommendation may be a recommendation for the recipient to sellsoftware to company X. As a result, the recommendation for the recipientto sell software to company X allows the recipient to pursue countermeasures to counteract the impact of the incoming message.

Further, the method may include referencing (406) a source to assist therecipient in accomplishing the recommendation. In one example, arecommendation for the recipient to sell software to company X mayinclude referencing a source in a database that includes informationabout software that company X buys. In another example, referencing asource to assist the recipient in accomplishing the recommendation mayinclude referencing a source in a database that includes a directory ofcompanies that buy software.

The method also includes displaying (407) the recommendation in thedisplay. In keeping with the given example, the recommendation for therecipient to sell software to company X is displayed in the recipient'sactivity stream. As mentioned above, the identification system providesan option to display additional details. In some examples, therecommendation may be one of the details displayed as part of theadditional details in the display. In some example, other additionaldetails may include update from detail, content of the incoming messagedetail, a content category detail, the sender-recipient relationship ofthe incoming message detail, a degree of sender attitude and messageimpact detail, linked details, other types of details, or combinationsthereof.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of an identification system (500),according to the principles described herein. The identification system(500) includes a relationship categorization engine (502), a contentcategorization engine (504), determination engine (506), and ageneration engine (508). In this example, the system (500) also includesa combination engine (510), a reference engine (512), and a displayengine (514). The engines (502, 504, 506, 508, 510, 512, 514) refer to acombination of hardware and program instructions to perform a designatedfunction. Each of the engines (502, 504, 506, 508, 510, 512, 514) mayinclude a processor and memory. The program instructions are stored inthe memory and cause the processor to execute the designated function ofthe engine.

The relationship categorization engine (502) categorizes asender-recipient relationship. As mentioned above, categorizing thesender-recipient relationship may include a recipient manually enteringthe sender-recipient relationship into the system. Further, therecipient may categorize the sender-recipient relationship with anyappropriate number of senders. Further, the relationship categorizationengine (502) may present a list of relationship categories that mayinclude any appropriate relationship category to allow the recipient tocategorize the sender-recipient relationship.

The content categorization engine (504) categorizes the content of theincoming message, in one example, categorizing the content of theincoming message includes using analytics, such as data text mining, todetermine the category of the content in the incoming message. Forexample, if the recipient receives an incoming message from sender thatstates “I sold software,” the analytics is performed on the incomingmessage. In this example, the content of the incoming message may becategorized as software sales. As a result, the content categorizationengine (504) categorizes the content of the incoming message.

The determination engine (506) determines a deuce of sender attitude ofthe incoming message. Further, the degree of sender attitude may beidentifiable as very negative, negative, somewhat negative, neutral,somewhat positive, positive, very positive, or another identification.Further, a degree of sender attitude may be expressed as a range ofnumbers. For example, the range of numbers may be from −10 to +10 where−10 represents a very negative degree of sender attitude and +10represents a very positive degree of sender attitude.

The generation engine (508) generates a recommendation based on theincoming message. In one example, a recommendation may includegenerating a sales worksheet. In another example, a recommendation mayinclude generating a corporate directory. Further, the recommendationallows a recipient to pursue counter measures to counteract the contentof the incoming message.

The combination engine (510) combines the sender-recipient relationshipand the degree of the sender attitude to determine a message impact onthe recipient. Further, the message impact on the recipient may be verynegative, negative, somewhat negative, neutral, somewhat positive,positive, very positive, or other degree. Further, a message impact onthe recipient may be expressed as a range of numbers.

The reference engine (512) references a source to assist a recipient inaccomplishing the recommendation. In one example, a recommendation forthe recipient to sell software to company X may include referencing adatabase that includes information about software that company X buys.In another example, referencing a source to assist the recipient inaccomplishing the recommendation may include referencing a database thatincludes a directory of companies that buy software.

The display engine (514) displays the recommendation in the display. Inone example, the display engine (514) provides an option to displayadditional details. As mentioned above, additional details may includeupdate from details, content of the incoming message details, a contentcategory details, a sender-recipient relationship details, a degree ofsender attitude and message impact details, linked details, other typesof details, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example of an identification system (600),according to principles described herein. In this example, theidentification system (600) includes processing resources (602) that arein communication with memory resources (604). Processing resources (602)include at least one processor and other resources used to processprogrammed instructions. The memory resources (604) represent generallyany memory capable of storing data such as programmed instructions ordata structures used by the identification system (600). The programmedinstructions shown stored in the memory resources (604) include arelationship recognizer (606), a positive relationship categorizer(608), a negative relationship categorizer (610), an incoming messagereceiver (612), a content categorizer (614), a positive degree of senderattitude determiner (616), a negative degree of sender attitudedeterminer (618), a relationship and degree of sender attitude combiner(620), a recommendation generator (622), a source reference (624), arecommendation displayer (626), and an additional details displayer(628).

The memory resources (604) include a computer readable storage mediumthat contains computer readable program code to cause tasks to beexecuted by the processing resources (602). The computer readablestorage medium may be a tangible storage medium. The computer readablestorage medium may be any appropriate storage medium that is not atransmission storage medium. A non-exhaustive list of computer readablestorage medium types includes non-volatile memory, volatile memory,random access memory, write only memory, flash memory, electricallyerasable program read only memory, or types of memory, or combinationsthereof.

The relationship recognizer (606) represents programmed instructionsthat, when executed, cause the processing resources (602) to recognizethe existence of a sender-recipient relationship of the incomingmessage. The positive relationship categorizer (608) representsprogrammed instructions that, when executed, cause the processingresources (602) to categorize the sender-recipient relationship as apositive relationship. The negative relationship categorizer (610)represents programmed instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessing resources (602) to categorize the sender-recipientrelationship as a negative relationship. The incoming message receiver(612) represents programmed instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessing resources (602) to receive the incoming message. The contentcategorizer (614) represents programmed instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processing resources (602) to categorize the contentof the incoming message. The positive degree of sender attitudedeterminer (616) represents programmed instructions that, when executed,cause the processing resources (602) to determine a positive degree ofsender attitude. The negative degree of sender attitude determiner (618)represents programmed instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessing resources (602) to determine a negative degree of senderattitude.

The relationship and degree of sender attitude combiner (620) representsprogrammed instructions that, when executed, cause the processingresources (602) to combine the sender-recipient relationship and degreeof sender attitude to Bete; mine a message impact on a recipient. Therecommendation generator (622) represents programmed instructions that,when executed, cause the processing resources (602) to generate arecommendation based on the incoming message. The source reference (624)represents programmed instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessing resources (602) to reference a sourced to assist therecipient in accomplishing the recommendation. The recommendationdisplayer (626) represents programmed instructions that, when executed,cause the processing resources (602) to display the recommendation. Theadditional details displayer (628) represents programmed instructionsthat, when executed, cause the processing resources (602) to displayadditional details with the incoming message.

Further, the memory resources (104) may be part of an installationpackage. In response to installing the installation package, theprogrammed instructions of the memory resources (604) may be downloadedfrom the installation package's source, such as a portable medium, aserver, a remote network location, another location, or combinationsthereof. Portable memory media that are compatible with the principlesdescribed herein include DVDs, CDs, flash memory, portable disks,magnetic disks, optical disks, other forms of portable memory, orcombinations thereof. In other examples, the program instructions arealready installed. Here, the memory resources can include integratedmemory such as a hard drive, a solid state hard drive, or the like.

In some examples, the processing resources (602) and the memoryresources (604) are located within the same physical component, such asa server, or a network component. The memory resources (604) may be partof the physical component's main memory, caches, registers, non-volatilememory, or elsewhere in the physical component's memory hierarchy.Alternatively, the memory resources (604) may be in communication withthe processing resources (602) over a network. Further, the datastructures, such as the libraries, may be accessed from a remotelocation over a network connection while the programmed instructions arelocated locally. Thus, the identification system (600) may beimplemented on a user device, on a server, on a collection of servers,or combinations thereof.

The identification system (600) of FIG. 6 may be part of a generalpurpose computer. However, in alternative examples, the identificationsystem (600) is part of an application specific integrated circuit.

The preceding description has been presented to illustrate and describeexamples of the principles described. This description is not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit these principles to any precise formdisclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light ofthe above teaching.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operations of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products, in this regard, eachblock in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which has a number of executableinstructions for implementing the specific logical function(s). Itshould also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in thefigures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart illustration and combination of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexamples, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicated otherwise. It willbe further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”when used in the specification, specify the presence of stated features,integers, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not precludethe presence or addition of a number of other features, integers,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for identifying content in an incomingmessage on a social network, comprising, with a computer having anetwork interface, performing all of: categorizing a type of asender-recipient relationship between a sender and an individualrecipient of the incoming message in an activity stream in a display,the type of relationship being selected from a predetermined list ofrelationship categories; categorizing the content of said incomingmessage; determining an impact of the incoming message on the recipientbased on the sender-recipient relationship; and generating arecommendation to counteract a negative impact of the incoming messageon the recipient.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdetermining a degree of sender attitude about the incoming message anddetermining the impact of the incoming message on the recipient based onboth the sender-recipient relationship and the degree of sender attitudeabout the incoming message.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereincategorizing said sender-recipient relationship with said recipient ofsaid incoming message in said activity stream includes categorizingmultiple sender-recipient relationship relationships between said senderand said recipient.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisinggenerating a recommendation for the recipient based on the content ofthe incoming message and the sender-recipient relationship.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein generating said recommendation based on saidincoming message includes displaying said recommendation in saiddisplay.
 6. A method for identifying content in an incoming message on asocial network comprising, with a computer having a network interface,performing all of: categorizing a sender-recipient relationship betweena sender and a recipient of the incoming message in an activity streamin a display, wherein the categorizing categorizes the sender-recipientrelationship as positive or negative; categorizing the content of saidincoming message; determining a degree of sender attitude about theincoming message; determining an impact of the incoming message on therecipient based on a combination of the sender-recipient relationship,content of the incoming message and degree of sender attitude about theincoming message; and generating a recommendation for the recipientbased on said incoming message and determined impact of the incomingmessage on the recipient.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprisingdetermining a plurality of sender-recipient relationships.
 8. The methodof claim 7, further comprising selecting a relevant sender-recipientrelationship, from the plurality of relationships, based on the contentof the incoming message, where the relevant sender-recipientrelationship is then used as a basis for determining the impact of theincoming message on the recipient.
 9. A method for identifying contentin an incoming message on a social network, comprising: categorizing asender-recipient relationship between an individual sender and anindividual recipient of the incoming message in an activity stream ofthe individual recipient as presented in a display to the individualrecipient, the categorizing of the sender-recipient relationshipspecifying whether the individual sender and the individual recipientare competitors and to accordingly categorize the sender-recipientrelationship as competitive or not; categorizing the content of saidincoming message; determining an impact of the incoming message on theindividual recipient based on a determined category of the content ofthe incoming message and a determined category of the relationshipbetween the individual sender and individual recipient; and generating arecommendation for the recipient based on said incoming message anddetermined impact of the incoming message on the recipient.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising determining a degree of senderattitude about the incoming message and determining the impact of theincoming message on the recipient based on both the sender-recipientrelationship and the degree of sender attitude about the incomingmessage.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the degree of senderattitude is specified on an attitude continuum including very negative,negative, somewhat negative, neutral, somewhat positive, positive, verypositive.
 12. The method of claim 9, further comprising categorizingmultiple sender-recipient relationships between the individual senderand the individual recipient including both professional and personalrelationships.
 13. The method of claim 9, further comprising generatinga recommendation for the recipient based on the content of the incomingmessage and the sender-recipient relationship.
 14. The method of claim13, further referencing a source to assist said recipient inaccomplishing said recommendation.